How Can Machine Information Processing Secure Humanity's Future? By Embracing an Entrepreneurial Mindset in Education During the AI Era
During a presentation I delivered at the Ministry of Education's conference on artificial intelligence, attendees included teachers from the initial phase of a course I designed. This course features multiple innovative aspects in terms of professional growth, applicability, and groundbreaking elements:
Teachers and their students attended the course together, involving 10 different groups from various schools.
The course utilized a "Eurovision" model, where participants met physically at their respective schools across the country while instruction was delivered remotely via Zoom.
Design thinking was the core methodology; we began with a specific challenge and brainstormed creative solutions that integrated relevant AI tools.
We employed future-thinking techniques and practiced them to further refine our solutions.
The end results were practical frameworks for incorporating AI into classrooms or entire schools, tailored to pre-defined challenges.
Skill-building for using the AI tools was conducted asynchronously in group settings between live sessions. During synchronous meetings, we mainly relied on the digital competencies of the participants, sometimes with students taking the lead.
The course foundation was built on principles of student inclusivity, innovation, creative thinking, entrepreneurship, and boundary-breaking.
The video showcases three innovative models created during the course:
1. Artificial Star Mentor for Each Student:
This first model was the brainchild of Shiri Haklai, along with a collaborative team of teachers and students from Alliance High School in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, all of whom were course participants.
Shiri elaborated on the concept, saying, "The students came up with the idea that the AI mentor could take the form of someone the student admires and loves. For instance, if I'm struggling with an exercise, having Messi, whom I look up to, sit next to me and encourage me by saying, 'You're great, you can do it,' boosts my motivation. The same could be true if it were Noah Kirel or John Lennon offering the encouragement."
Shiri also mentioned that the timing was impeccable. Just a week after introducing their model, a viral TED video about "Kahn Amigo" was released. For more on this, you can read the post titled 'Who is Afraid of Artificial Intelligence?'.
2. A Community of Students Teaching AI:
This was the brainchild of a team led by Rachel Braun-Segav from Ramat Chen School in Ramat Gan, along with Eti Maayan, the school's ICT coordinator.
Rachel discussed the creation of a specialized learning community for sixth graders focused on artificial intelligence. She said, "Our school has a strong emphasis on arts and sciences. We wanted to bridge the gap between text-heavy subjects and visual learning. That's where AI came into play for us."
Tragically, Yonatan Geffen, a key figure related to their project, passed away the same week as their presentation. Despite this, the team went ahead and prepared a lesson for third graders.
"The sixth graders actually crafted a lesson that introduced the younger students to the concept of artificial intelligence and how it could enhance their projects," Rachel added. "When asked who wrote the text for the lesson, the third graders initially thought it was the older students. They were amazed to learn that AI had actually generated the text. The sixth graders were incredibly proud to educate others on how to create visual products using tools like Canva.
3. Musical Intelligence in the Classroom:
The model was spearheaded by teachers Irit Gretel and Etty Nyberg from the 7th Comprehensive High School in Ashdod.
Irit explained their focus was on "enhancing the learning experience for middle school students who have a musical learning style." She elaborated, "While differentiated teaching has long been considered effective for diverse classrooms, we wanted to explore how AI could take this a step further. We employed AI tools like Synthesia for text-to-speech and Wavtool for auditory activities." "The aim was to cater to students with musical or auditory learning styles. The use of these AI tools is expected to not only engage these students more effectively but also to foster unique skills tailored to their learning styles," Irit added. "From a broader perspective, this approach encourages teachers to be more creative and flexible in their teaching methods. It's a win-win for both students and educators."
More-
Student Feedback: The students who took part in the course expressed that it was a transformative experience for them. They felt valued and engaged in a way they hadn't before.
Teacher Insights: The educators found the students' active participation in conceptualizing the models to be a groundbreaking step. They believe that this collaborative approach could be a blueprint for reimagining education in the age of AI.
Acknowledgments: Special thanks to Hessi Ran, the director of the Tel-Aviv-Jaffa Passage, and Tom Giladi, the Deputy Director of the Pascha, as well as all the teachers and students who embarked on this educational journey.
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Best wishes to all 21st-century educators!